Well, that's a first
by eccentricrabbit
Summary: Tonks and Lupin's very first meeting. Or how I wish that it could've gone.  RLNT all the way.
1. The order of the phoenix

**Title:** Well, that's a first.

**Author:** Chrissy (aka: x-starbuck)

**Rating: **K+

**Spoilers:** Order of the Phoenix.

**Summary:** Tonks and Lupin's very first meeting. Or how I (wish) guess that it could've gone. ;)

**Disclaimer:** The characters etc. belong to the (mostly) wonderful J.K. Rowling.

Thanks so much for the beta: bones-is-love ... ILU!

--

Chapter One: The Order of the Phoenix 

--

Muttering under her breath, she used 'accio,' to retrieve her wand from where it had slid under someone else's desk. She slipped it back into the pocket in her robes, and silently berated herself for being such a klutz; but at the same time thanking her lucky stars that her fellow female auror - Marickha Larkin - wasn't around to see her tripping... again. While most of the time Tonks let the snide remarks glide off her, like water from a ducks back - but she was not in the mood to let things go. She would more than likely end up losing her temper and causing more trouble than it was worth.

She was nervous.

The last time Tonks had felt this nervous was back when she first applied to be an auror. But, just as she felt then - she also found there was a mixture of excitement with those nerves. _Order of the Phoenix_, she thought, doodling on the notepad in front of her. She'd done everything she needed to do for the day, so she leant the chair back on two legs and closed her eyes, thinking back to the day before.

--

"Nymphadora Tonks? I thought it was you - saw you through the window."

"Mr Weasley?" She responded, but it sounded more like gibberish, as she was trying to talk through a mouthful of sandwich. "Sorry. Wotcher Mr Weasley," She winked, and gave him a huge grin, and gestured to the empty chair next to her.

"I've said time and time again, please just call me Arthur."

"Old habits die hard, I knew you as Mr Weasley back when Charlie and I were at school." She said with a chuckle. "Is it your day off?"

"I go in for half a day on a Wednesday," Arthur told her, bobbing his head up and down in agreement, but looking around the cafe they were sitting in with the look of a child at a fairground. "So what's this muggle place called?" He asked craning his head, and trying to read the sign on the front window.

"'Tis a Cafe, called the Fish Bowl, or something totally nutty like that." She narrowed her eyes at Mr Weasley suddenly suspicious. Why would he be in muggle-London, why didn't he just go back to the Burrow? Especially with all the awful things that had been happening lately... "Mad-eye told you I come here, didn't he?" Mr Weasley turned from the coffee machine he had been gazing at, and gave her an amused smile.

"Too sharp for me," she assumed he was hinting at the fact that she figured out he hadn't just spotted her walking past - not that it would be hard though. She was dressed in muggle clothes, but her purple hair caught more than a few looks from passers-by. Mr Weasley cast a privacy spell, his wand under the table so no one would see.

"We're getting straight down to business then?" Tonks asked; realising this would probably have something to do with the rumours of Voldemort being on the loose, it seemed to be all anyone was talking about these days - in whispers of course.

"It's best we got it over and done with, yes." He glanced around worriedly, even though his spell would prevent anyone from hearing their conversation. "Have you heard of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"They fought You-Know-Who last time 'round," Tonks replied. "Don't know why they aren't this time," she muttered under her breath. But it must have been louder than she thought, because Mr Weasley smiled.

"Oh, but they are. That's what I'm going to ask you. Are you willing to join us?" Tonks felt a weight lift from the pit of her stomach.

She had been worrying about this for weeks now, ever since she heard Dumbledore believed Voldemort was back. While the Ministry sat on their arse, in their little world of denial - she knew that Dumbledore was telling the truth - and she had wondered whether it would be too late to do anything by the time the Ministry came to their senses.

"I realise you'd be risking your job-" Arthur began.

"-No, no I'll join." She said quickly. Arthur looked a bit worried.

"There is a lot involved in being in the order, Nymphadora."

"Tonks," she reminded him with a raised eyebrow. Arthur hadn't ever made the mistake of calling her Nymphadora. But she noticed the intense look on his face, and realised he was trying to make sure she knew what she was getting into. "If you want to tell the other members I'm going to think about it, do that. But I've made by decision - and I want to help. And I'd like to join as soon as possible." She told him matter-of-factly. She found herself leaning forward in her chair.

"Well, I suppose of you're sure..." He trailed off. "There's a meeting tomorrow night, if you'd like to come."

"That should be fine, I finish work at five. What time is the meeting?"

"It's at seven thirty, I'll get Moody to bring you." Arthur chewed on his bottom lip for a moment as if he was contemplating something. "I don't know quite how to put this Tonks... but I don't want you to freak out when you get to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. But your uh - I believe he's your second cousin - Sirius Black will be there."

Tonks stared blankly at him for a moment. "You - Sirius - wait... What? He's going to be at the headquarters? You caught him?" She bit her lip. She wasn't making much sense; she needed to calm down so that she could get the whole story. "Why is Sirius going to be at the headquarters?"

"Well, this is going to be hard for you to believe. But Sirius is actually innocent."

"No, no. He killed Peter Pettigrew... and all those muggles." She said, a twinge of sadness tugging at her. Arthur must have been confunded... maybe by Sirius Black himself. She would have to go and apprehend him of course...

But Arthur continued, he spoke for quite a while, explaining the situation. She didn't think she'd ever gone so long without interrupting someone with a question. She ran her fingers through her purple hair. "It's so hard to take in." She trailed off for a minute, and took a sip of her cold coffee, and winced. It really was revolting, if only she could do a warming spell on it.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, yes." She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm glad he's innocent, I'm also glad Kingsley has given me the duty of finding Sirius Black." Arthur smirked.

"Well yes, that was a clever idea of Kingsley's wasn't it?" The way he said it made Tonks think that...

"Kingsley's in the order?" Tonks grinned; finally everything fell into place in her mind. Sirius is innocent! Her grin widened. "You don't think I could go and see my cousin now, do you?" Arthur shook his head sadly. "Sorry, not tonight. I'll get Moody to bring you earlier to the meeting though. Then you can talk to him before-hand." Tonks glanced outside, night had fallen while they'd been sitting here, and the moon was full and bright. "Thanks Arthur, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow night." She patted him on the shoulder, stumbled a little over the hem of her robe, and waved goodbye as she left the cafe.

**TBC**


	2. Constant vigilance

--

Chapter Two: Constant Vigilance 

--

She was looking through her mom's old photo-albums; all the photos of Sirius had been removed. She flipped through the last few pages, but still the places where Sirius' pictures had been were blank.

"If I were mom, where would I hide photos of my, favourite - but convicted murderer cousin?" Her mom's cat Keely meowed in response. "Yeah, yeah I know I'm talking to myself Keely," she scratched the top of the Siamese cat's ears for a while, thinking hard. _How could she find the photos?_

"Accio photos of Sirius," she said half-heartedly. There was a strange shuffling sound from upstairs. "Accio photos of Sirius," she said more confidently this time. There was a crash, and an ominous cracking sound, and a large box came hurtling through the air from upstairs. "Uh oh," Tonks ducked and the box flew over her head, smashed into the wall behind her, and fell with a thud to the ground.

She repaired the damage upstairs as best she could. It seemed the box had been underneath her parent's bed... and the box knocked one of the beds legs off, and crashed through the door.

--

She apparated back to her apartment with the box of photos, tipped them onto her double bed, and spread them out before her. She tried putting them in order, baby Sirius, toddler Sirius, child Sirius, teenage Sirius, and there were only a few of adult Sirius. She took in the pictures, some of them were not moving, they seemed to be taken using a muggle-camera, and she figured her father must have taken the photos. One of the photos was a picture of 15-year-old Sirius holding a tiny baby with a tuft of bright pink hair on the top of her head. She felt her eyes prickle, but she refused to let the tears fall. Sirius had loved her, maybe only because she was Andromeda's daughter, but he had loved her. How had she ever believed him to be a murderer? She again, had to sniff back tears as she shuffled all the photos together, and placed them gently back into the box.

Glancing up at the clock she realised she only had fifteen minutes to ready herself for the meeting. She stood abruptly; the box slid off the end of the bed and landed on its side. She kicked it upright as she passed it, and checked her outfit in the full-length mirror. Was it okay to wear patched jeans, a weird-sisters t-shirt and her bright purple robes to the order meeting? Probably not. She changed her purple robe for a black one, and lengthened her hair a little, but it still seemed to jut out from behind her ears. She never had managed to morph her hair smooth and long when she was this nervous, it tended to match her mood, edgy... now for the colour. At the moment it was a bright, violent sort of purple, and she wasn't sure whether it suited her. She closed her eyes, and changed her hair to a bubble-gum pink... but still it wasn't quite right. She darkened it a little.

"Perfect," she admired her hair in the mirror, and left everything else. Her heart-shaped face was a little bit too pale, but she didn't have time to do anything about that. She left her eyes natural, a dark brown, almost black colour - the same eyes she and her mother shared. It was a black family trait, she supposed.

A knock at the door made her jump a little, and she flattened her hair uselessly, and it bounced straight back out again. She quickly yanked on her black combat-boots without untying the laces, and ran to the door.

"Coming," she called out, checking her robes pocket for her wand, and muttering a spell to take down her security spells. She looked through the peephole expecting to see Mad-eye, and found she was looking at a stranger. A man, with dusty brown hair, lightly streaked with grey... a soft face, despite the old scars criss-crossing his face. "Who is it?" She asked worriedly, not moving from her spot on her tiptoes looking through the peephole.

"My name is Remus Lupin. Mad- Er. Alastor had business to attend, and he sent me along." Was he about to call Mad-eye, Mad-eye? She suppressed a smile.

"How do I know this is true?"

"Didn't Alastor send you a message via patronus?" He asked, a confused expression crossing his face briefly. "He told me he would..."

"I had security wards up, it may not have been able to get through. It'll return in a moment I suppose." She opened the door, pointing her wand at him.

"Just move slowly, okay?" He took in her appearance quickly, and then looked into her apartment, and walked in; she walked backwards, her wand still pointed at him. "Can you shut the - OH!" She tripped, and landed on her bum, but somehow her wand arm stayed steady, wand still pointed at him.

The door shut, and the man spun around at the sound of the thump. "Are you okay?" True concern flickered across his face. And she repressed a smile, not many people could just see someone fall on their arse, and then not laugh about it, especially when the person who tripped is a trained auror.

"Yes, my butt will be a little sore later though." She chuckled, and staggered to her feet. There was a whooshing sound, and a patronus flew threw the glass window. She knew how the messages worked with a patronus, and no matter how hard someone other than the intended person tried to listen; they wouldn't be able to hear the message.

"Tonks, Remus Lupin will be picking you up, got business to attend to." Came Mad-eye's gruff voice, "Ask him what he and his friends were called back when they were at Hogwarts," he chuckled. "He'll answer 'The Marauders,' I've told him to ask you what form your patronus takes."

"What did you and your friends call yourselves when you were at Hogwart's?" She asked, smirking.

"The Marauders," he laughed. "Trust Alastor to use that question. And what form does your patronus take?"

"A chameleon," she lowered her wand, and placed it in her pocket.

"I'm sorry about that, I'll have to change my security wards. I'm not used to getting messages via patronus. My name is Nymphadora Tonks, but... call me Tonks." She winked, and held out her hand.

"As you know, Remus Lupin." He shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. And there is no need to apologise, I would have worried if you'd trusted me immediately."

"Constant Vigilance, as Mad-eye taught me." She grinned, and tried to rub her bum discreetly. Her tailbone ached like mad after tripping backwards over... she glanced behind her... there was nothing there. She tripped over _nothing_. She felt a light blush rise to her cheeks, but she morphed it away before Lupin would notice.

"Are you ready to go?" Lupin asked.

"Yes," she glanced around, and followed him through the door. She quickly cast her usual security charms, and then held tightly onto Remus' outstretched arm.

"We're going to use side-along apparation, and then I'm going to show you a piece of paper with the address of the headquarters on it. Okay?" She felt the warmth of his body through his thin, and rather tattered robes.

"Sure." They must be using fidelius on the house, she thought, just before the hallway outside her flat swirled, and disappeared.

**TBC**


	3. The house of black

**--**

**Chapter Three: The House of Black**

**--**

Twelve Grimmauld Place, now why did that address ring a bell? And why did her Aunt Bellatrix come to mind? She was only mildly surprised when the two houses in front of them moved silently away from each other - and the people she could see through the windows of both the houses didn't even know what was happening. Another house appeared between them and she stared at the door a moment, at the large serpent doorknocker. That's why she was reminded of Bellatrix. She leant in closer to Remus, and whispered in his ear.

"Is this the house of black?" She leant back so she could see his face, but she couldn't read his expression in the shadows.

"Let's go inside," he said, his voice neutral. She was still clutching his elbow, as they walked up the steps. "Are you going to let that death-clutch on my arm go a little?" He asked, amused.

"No," she was holding him that tightly for a few reasons. Mostly because she was afraid she would trip, it looked as if one of the laces on her boots had come undone, which made it even more likely she would trip. _Why didn't I tie them properly?_ She wondered.

She loosened her hold slightly, and he chuckled. "Thank you." He muttered a spell under his breath, and waved his wand discreetly at the door. Many locks clicked open behind the heavy door, and finally Lupin opened it.

The interior was dark; it smelled a little like mould, and dust. She coughed, and covered her nose and mouth with her free hand. Lupin shut the door quietly, and she though he hadn't said anything, she felt she needed to keep as quiet as possible.

"We need to keep the noise down, until we get into the kitchen." He whispered, his breathe tickling her ear, and strangely, she felt tingles running up and down her spine. In her surprise, she let go of his arm, and started walking ahead of him, until she remembered she didn't know where she was going. She skidded to a halt at the first door, and bumped into something, that felt vaguely slimy through the tear in her jeans. She let out an: 'oomph' as she landed on the ground. Suddenly the silent hallway was filled with screeches, and the sound of Lupin cursing.

"Are you okay?" He asked for the second time that day, she nodded, embarrassed. God, she's screwed things up and they weren't even at the meeting yet. She felt around on the ground for whatever it was she had knocked over, and stifled a yelp of surprise. It was definitely something slimy.

"Lumos," she said and looked down. It was a troll leg. It was literally a _troll leg_ not an imitation, a bloody, or once bloody _troll leg_. She wiped her hands on her robes, and straightened it. It seemed to be an umbrella stand now. She shuddered, and found that while she'd been concentrating on what an idiot she'd been, and the troll leg - another man had appeared, and both he and Lupin seemed to be trying to wrestle curtains across a portrait. On closer inspection, the portrait was a slightly ugly, evil looking old woman screaming at the top of her lungs.

"HALF-BREEDS, BLOOD-TRAITORS," she'd heard enough; she grabbed the side that Lupin was tugging on, and heaved with him. Finally the curtains were shut, and the three of them walked, panting, but as quiet as possible, down the hall, and into a warm, and well-lit kitchen. It was such a contrast to the hall they'd just been in.

"I'm really sorry," she looked at them both in turn, probably a little too earnestly for her liking - but she really didn't want to start off on the wrong foot.

"It's okay, old hag." Tonks started at the man who had spoken for a moment, until she realised he was talking about the portrait - not her. He seemed to realise his mistake, and he finally turned from the oven where he had been standing, to face her. When he ascertained that she realised he was talking about the portrait, his face split into a huge grin.

"Nymphadora Tonks," he took the few steps that separated them, and shook her hand vigorously. "I never thought I'd see you again!" A flash of anger passed over his face. "Welcome to the House of Black," he finished, a little too melancholy. She hoped he wasn't going to get all sulky on her; her mother did it all the time, and Sirius reminded her of her mom so much.

"Mom never thought you'd done it." She told him, hoping it would lighten the mood, rather than make him feel worse.

"Oh, Andromeda." He looked up, and flicked his black hair off his face. He was pale; his skin had a strange, waxy look about it. She supposed it was because he'd been trapped indoors for so long... and after twelve years in Azkaban too? She smiled, and glanced over at Lupin who seemed to be finishing whatever Sirius had been making at the oven. "How is she?"

"She's good, I suppose. A bit worked up over this Voldemort business." She said carelessly. Lupin turned to look at her, and even Sirius' eyes widened a little.

"You're definitely a Black," he told her, his eyes searching hers for something. She felt a lump rise to her throat. He thought she was like a _Black_? She wasn't like them at all. Not like Bellatrix, or Narcissa... she wasn't even like her mother or father. She was her own person. Even in her natural form, people would think she had been adopted she was so different. "I don't mean it in a bad way," he continued. "Even I've got that rather... what do you call it?"

"Reckless streak?" Lupin supplied. Tonks sighed with relief. Yeah, she did tend to be a little reckless. "You two..." Lupin muttered something about troublemakers, and risking their necks for no good reason.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." She pouted, morphing her eyes a softer brown, and giving him that 'puppy dog look,' "You don't even know me that well yet."

"I guess I don't. And you _are_ an auror, so you can't be quite as bad as him." He relented, jerking his thumb at Sirius. Sirius sat down at the table, and Tonks followed suit.

"Well, that's a first." She looked away from Lupin, and back at her second cousin.

"What is?"

"The puppy dog eyes, they don't usually work when he's in that pre-lecture-mode. He always mumbles insults and..." He trailed off, and shook his head slightly. "Either you're very good at greasing," he leaned across the table. "Or Lupin's got a crush on my little cousin," he whispered in a conspiring tone.

"I heard that," Lupin was levitating a tray filled with mugs, and a plate of cookies to the table.

"I'm not little," Tonks responded. Both she and Lupin glared at Sirius, and he leaned back in his chair.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down guys."

"How did you hear him from all the way over there?" She pointed to where Lupin had been standing. He sighed heavily, and sat down next to Sirius.

"Werewolf hearing, dear cousin." Sirius told her, stuffing a cookie in his mouth. She felt her eyes widen, and she looked at Lupin for confirmation. He was glaring at the side of Sirius' head.

"Not exactly how I would have told you," Lupin muttered. "Yes, I'm a werewolf."

"It's just a furry little problem." Sirius told her, and winked, jerking his head at Lupin and giving her the thumbs up, before taking a mouthful of his tea.

"What was all this-" she jerked her head, and winked. "-about?"

"He's single," he told her, rolling his eyes, as if he had been obvious in what he was trying to tell her. She shook her head in exasperation, and turned back to Lupin.

"I wondered why someone so young, could look so tired." She told him truthfully, she just left out the 'young _and ruggedly gorgeous.'_

"I'm not that young,"

"You're only Sirius' age!"

"Yeah mate, you're only my age." Sirius laughed, and stuffed two more cookies in his mouth. They were quiet for a bit, and then Sirius spoke again. "So you're sitting here with a convicted murderer, and a dark-creature." He laughed. "How're you feeling?"

"Bloody fantastic," she grinned.

**The End.**

**Authors Note:** I know this setting (Tonks and Lupin's first meeting) has been done to death. But can you blame me for wanting to write how I _thought_ it could have gone? ;) Let me know what you think I'm not particularly bothered by flames, so if you feel the need... go ahead.

Now, I know this sort of leaves things hanging. I'll think about a sequel if enough people like it. :)

**Beta Note:** Commend this Tonks/Lupin fan Chrissy for her great story, she is a breeze to beta for :D That's all I have to say :D Flames warm her coffee.


End file.
